Just a curiosity question about extreme temps

[Smith285]

I got home last night and noticed one of the cages were up to 94.1, which by all means is not high, just a little higher than I like to keep it so I adjusted accordingly, but it got me thinking....Just how high is too high? and just how low is too low? And does anyone know if too low is more harmful than too high?

I honestly have no idea because I'm used to all the animals I keep being warm blooded, and I never thought of 60 degree temperatures as being low...but for a snake who is normally around 80-90, would that be detrimental to their well being? So that is 20 less than where it should be, what about 20 higher, at 110 degrees? Which is worse?

Or am I not making any sense because I just got my wisdom teeth pulled and I'm stoned on vicodin?

And by the way, I'm not about to run any experiments on my snakes, and their temps are well kept, this was just totally out of curiosity

[Argentra]

In my educated opinion... too high is 100+ and too low is anything under 72.

Realize, though, that these snakes can handle some fluctuation as long as it isn't ongoing. If the power goes out and the temp plummets, they just drop the metabolism lower. If the UTH spikes and the temps rise, they head for the other side of the tank to get away from the extreme heat. Yes, the tank still gets hot, but at least they aren't directly on the source (this is why a gradient is so important).
I believe they handle low better than high...since really high (110+) can kill them much easier and faster than really low (60).

The best ranges for them are 90-93 warm, 80-84 cool, and 75-80 ambient. That's my humble opinion.

[Spaniard]

Too high is definitely more dangerous than too low. A bp can overheat and die within a few hours; they can be exposed to lower temps for much longer period of time without affecting the health of the animal. In your scenario I'd rather have my snake exposed to 60 degree temps than 110, I'm pretty sure 110 would be fatal if they had no way to escape that temp.

[Luke Martin]

As said...too high is worse than too low. Either way they aren't good because with too low they are susceptible to RI and other types of sickness. Too high can kill them a whole lot quicker though. And often times even if the heat doesn't kill them it can cause some serious neurological problems.

[Smith285]

I guess that is what I would have figured...I don't plan on finding out any time soon though.

Question though, what kind of neurological problems can occur due to too much heat? Are you talking about stress or something deeper?

[Argentra]

Much deeper. You're talking about brain damage. Just like too much heat, and heatstroke, affects the brains of humans it affects snakes...possibly more.

[cinderbird]

I guess that is what I would have figured...I don't plan on finding out any time soon though.

Question though, what kind of neurological problems can occur due to too much heat? Are you talking about stress or something deeper?

This. Im not sure of the exact temp, but humans end up with brain damage past 104 or 106 or something, and if left untreated in humans that can kill them. I'm sure its just as detrimental in snakes.

[Smith285]

thanks guys, that's exactly what I was wondering.... learned something today

[Luke Martin]

Yeah like they said it can cause some serious brain damage. I've seen some after being exposed to extreme heat that were all over the place squirming and waving their heads all over the place because they'd obviously incurred brain damage from the extreme heat. Hope not to see it happen to anyone else! Also certain snakes can obviously be exposed to higher temps than others....I know from experience boas get damaged at lower temps than ball pythons.

[janeothejungle]

At high temps, proteins denature and you are done. Low temps (shy of freezing) simply slow down or shut off energetic processes. You can recover from too cold, you cannot recover from too hot.


~Kat